Protect your upholstered chairs from dirt and stains.... ("how to")

08/19/2011

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Where do you fold your laundry.....?
I fold mine on the bed.  That way I HAVE to get it finished before I go to bed.  Works like a champ...
But yesterday.....  my daughter disguised herself as some laundry on the bed....
Did it work?
Do you see her....?
She is soooo tricky....!!!
She certainly had me going there for a while....!!!!

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before
As per the request of one of my favorite blog followers (thanks Ashley...!!!!!): here is a way to protect your fabric upholstered chairs from getting dirty....
And it is wonderful because you can even wipe it off!

To the left you see a fun vintage solid wood chair I found.  I love this chair.  It even has lovely woodcarving!  Lucky me for finding it!
I painted it red and covered the seat with new fabric...

But this fabric I chose is light in color....
Do you really think it will survive my children (and me....) without getting smudged? 
I think not....!!!

So I need to do something to protect the fabric....
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plan of attack
Here is my plan of attack!

I bought some vinyl from the fabric store....
I bought a whole yard, which is WAY too much, but I might need it again, so now I have it on hand...
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materials needed
Materials needed:
  • vinyl, cut to size (larger than the seat....)
  • staple gun
That's it!
Easy schmeezy....

Just pull it tight as you cover the front and staple the back.....
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after
Here it is....all done!

You can't even tell it has that sterile looking plastic on the chair....
Right....????

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now you can wipe this fabric covering clean!
OK, so when the light hits it just right you CAN tell, but that is totally  worth it, because I know the light colored upholstery cotton fabric would last two weeks around here (maybe) until it would be brownish.....


Makes me smile to see the happy colors.....
and they will stay that color!
YAY!!!!!
:)

Crystelle

P.S. You can also use this method to protect potato sack covered chairs, as the loosely woven jute fabric has a tendency to snag....
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How to make your own fabric tags at home: EASY!

08/16/2011

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home-made fabric tag
Making your own personalized fabric tag is not as hard as it sounds...
Really!
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What you will need is
  • a stamp
  • StāzOn ink or stamp-pad
  • fabric
  • iron

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My logo had been designed by I.D. Grafix quite some time ago, and I really like it, so I decide to use it for my fabric tags inside handbags as well. 
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I had my logo made into a custom stamp.
There are many places to have custom stamps made, and I chose foryoo from Honolulu, Hawaii.  She did a fabulous job.  I was very happy with the results:  It looks great.


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Using the Staz-on ink, stamp the image onto the selected fabric.
{I have tried other inks, but the image has a tendency to run when it gets wet.}
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 I often make multiple fabric tags at a time.
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Feel free to make just one tag at a time.  I like using pinking sheers to cut the tags out. 
But you could cut them out straight and fold the edges under if you would like....
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Let the ink dry and then heat-set the ink with a hot iron for 10 seconds or so.
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And there you have it:
lotsa fabric tags, all made very easily at home
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Get creative and use fun colors and prints for your fabric tags.
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And who said you had to use a logo anyway?
You can use what ever stamp you have on hand.....
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Spread the love with hand-sewn items for your loved ones, with hand-printed fabric tags.....

Enjoy!
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I Love My Green Smoothies!

08/16/2011

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You will never guess what I had for breakfast this morning: 
OK, so the picture and the title of this post gives it away, but still:  a green smoothie!
Yummy!

I love my new green breakfast drink!

I know, my green drink doesn't necessarily look very appetizing, but it it is delicious, I guarantee!  I think that is largely so due to the fact that I know how nutritious it is, of course.

What is in my green smoothie?
Well, it's different every day, but today it was greens: spinach and chard and kale
But also fruit: two bananas, an apple, some strawberries and blueberries.
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The Green Smoothies Book
I haven't felt very well for a over a year, and knew I had to introduce more vegetables into my diet, but that seemed like such a daunting task, until my sister-law introduced me to the Green Smoothies book by Robyn Openshaw.

I have been drinking these for  a little while now and my energy level is definitely up.  I'm lovin' it!


Yay!
:-)
Crystelle
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A Sweater Pillow for Your Sofa {....We are in GreenCraft Magazine.....!!!!}

08/01/2011

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Awesome rust-colored sweater pillow
Remember this pillow I made in the spring?
I really like this particular one because it has a good thick sweater look...  Cozy winter comfort kinda pillow......
Well, guess what.....it is famous now.....

{Do you think she will remember me....????}
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GreenCraft Magazine, Autumn 2011
Yay!!!
Who would have ever thought that our sweater pillow would make it to a magazine!
How lucky we are!
It was so fun to go out to mailbox and find the current GreenCraft Magazine in there, and discovering we had our pillow in the pages...!!!!!  :)

{...insert me doing a happy dance....}
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Up-Cycled Sweater Number Pillow in GreenCraft Magazine

Here we are:  on pages 32,33, and 34.
A wonderful rust colored super soft awesome vintage style sweater pillow....

Don't you just love it...
Can't you just see yourself taking a little nap on the couch, cozy with your head on this snugly pillow....
Makes me sleepy just thinking of it....  :-)
I have made an easy to follow tutorial called "Printing Numbers Onto Fabric at Home" that has simple step-by step directions with lots of pictures on five pages.
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CrystelleBoutique in GreenCraft Magazine Autumn 2011
Getting rid of your favorite sweater is hard to do, so instead of donating it to charity or throwing it in the garbage, do what we do:  fashion it into a snugly center-piece for your sofa!

If you want to make your own sweater-number pillow, you just go, girl!

  • Instructions on how to sew the pillow are FREE at the bottom of this post AND in the magazine {The file is the  same article as in the magazine...}
  • If you would like the FREE PDF file on how to make those fun number-prints....  that is also included at the bottom...  :-)

For your sewing pleasure!
Enjoy!!!!   :)
Crystelle
repurposed_sweater_pillow.pdf
File Size: 175 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File
printing_numbers_onto_fabric_at_home.docx
File Size: 717 kb
File Type: docx
Download File
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